Mon Petit Chou

We seem to be on a raclette kick now that the weather is definitely wintry. It's all relative, of course, as "wintry" here means you might possibly have to scrape your windshield with a credit card to get the frost off in the morning, but usually it's not as severe as that. I did have to bring my poinsettias in off the front steps last night - oh, the hardships we suffer!

Back to the raclette. I had fully intended to add some pancetta when I made the raclette this time but I totally spaced it and, instead, had the idea to add some gently steamed Brussels sprouts before melting under the broiler all that lovely cheese over the red potatoes.

The ticket with these tiny cabbages is not to boil them on high heat - that brings out all their aggressively smelly cabbage-family genes - but rather to cook them gently and only just until they are tender on medium heat with a little water to coax out their sweet side. They like it when you say "pretty please" rather than "Hurry up!"

This simple dish, completed with some tiny, intense cornichons and pickled onions (I like Maille brand but have enjoyed others as well), even got the thumbs-up from My Beloved, who is normally not a huge fan of "mon petit chou." We were murmuring endearments all the way through this delicious dinner. Charles Boyer comes to mind.